CAFARO FIELD Southerland rescues Scrappers

He retired six straight batters to save a 3-2 win.
By BRIAN RICHESSON
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
NILES -- Chip Southerland and Mike Conroy smoothed the Mahoning Valley Scrappers' overnight bus ride to New Jersey.
An eight-game road trip begins tonight for the Scrappers, and it comes after a couple of impressive individual performances Monday in a 3-2 victory over Staten Island at Cafaro Field.
The most telling sign that Southerland, a relief pitcher, had done his job came from the hand of Scrappers manager Ted Kubiak.
After bailing the Scrappers out of a miserable eighth-inning situation, Southerland walked to the dugout and was greeted with an aggressive high-five from his manager.
In a jam
A 21-year-old right-hander from Santa Ana, Calif., Southerland entered the game with two Yankees on base, nobody out and the Scrappers clinging to their 3-2 lead.
"When I come into a game like that, my intensity level is at its peak, and I just feed off that," Southerland said. "That's when I have my best stuff."
Two strikeouts and a lineout later, all was well again in the Scrappers dugout. Southerland then finished off the Yankees in the ninth, an impressive performance in which he retired six straight batters, five by strikeout.
"He was unbelievable. It was an outstanding performance," Kubiak said.
Southerland played five games for the Scrappers last season, compiling a 5.63 ERA. He started this season at Burlington, the rookie level, before pitching briefly at Class-A Lake County and arriving in recent weeks at Mahoning Valley.
"I was here last year, so I got the nerves out of the way," said Southerland, who earned his first save in his third appearance for Mahoning Valley.
Conroy goes deep
Southerland had a lead to protect because of Conroy, who homered off the right-field scoreboard in the seventh inning to break a 2-2 tie.
The solo shot followed Conroy's triple in his previous at-bat in the fourth and another triple in Sunday's doubleheader.
"Besides those three hits, I've been struggling a little bit," Conroy said. "But you get those nights when you see the ball well and you put some good swings on it."
Conroy's home-run ball glanced off the scoreboard's netting that shields advertisements and came back onto the field. Because of that, he was sprinting to third base before learning of the official ruling.
"After that at-bat, he told me it was the hardest ball he's ever hit," Scrappers coach Jim Rickon said of Conroy.
Kubiak added, "When he can hit the ball that far, that shows that something's working for him because he hasn't been doing that."
Seeking their third straight series win, the Scrappers called on reliever Brandon Rickert to begin the eighth.
But the team's new pitcher, who had just 12/3 innings with Mahoning Valley coming into the game, appeared unsettled in the tense situation and walked the first two batters he faced.
That's when Kubiak called on Southerland.
"If I come in for somebody that was in trouble, and I'm trying to pull them out of it," Southerland said, "that's when I pitch my best."
STATEN ISLANDSCRAPPERS
abrhbiabrhbi
Cabrera cf4000Snyder cf4110
Cruz 2b2000Colmenter 2b3000
Zamora 3b3000Kouzmanff 3b3000
Kartler lf4000Mulhern 1b3000
Lawrence dh3000Conroy lf3121
Urick 1b3010Garko c3111
Rosario c4110Noviskey dh3010
Slevin ss4111Van Every rf1000
Santa rf2021Cotto ss3000
Treadway pr/rf2000
Totals31252Totals26352
Staten Island000020000--2
Scrappers11000010x--3
DP--Staten Island 1. LOB--Staten Island 7, Scrappers 1. HR--Garko, Conroy. 3B--Conroy, Slevin. 2B--Rosario. SB--Snyder, Santa 2. CS--Lawrence, Van Every 3.
IPHRERBBSO
Staten Island
Wright L, 2-4753319
Tribe100012
Scrappers
Burton542234
Davis W, 3-3210002
Rickert000020
Southerland S, 1200005
Rickert faced two batters in the eighth. WP--Wright 2. Umpires--John Tumpane, home; Darren Budahn, bases. T--2:29. A--4,145.
HOW THEY SCORED
FIRST INNING
MAHONING VALLEY 1, STATEN ISLAND 0
Scrappers: Chase Wright pitching. Brad Snyder singled to center, advanced to second on a wild pitch. Jesus Colmenter lined out to first. Snyder stole third and scored on a wild pitch. Kevin Kouzmanoff grounded out to third. Ryan Mulhern flied out to left. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left.
SECOND INNING
MAHONING VALLEY 2, STATEN ISLAND 0
Scrappers: Wright pitching. Mike Conroy grounded out to first. Ryan Garko homered over the left-field wall. Josh Noviskey struck out. Jonathan Van Every walked, tagged out in a rundown. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left.
FIFTH INNING
MAHONING VALLEY 2, STATEN ISLAND 2
Scrappers: T.J. Burton pitching. John Urick grounded out to second. Carlos Rosario doubled to left, David Slevin tripled to right center, Rosario scored. Alexander Santa singled to center, Slevin scored. Santa stole second. Jared Treadway in for Santa. Melky Cabrera grounded out to second, Treadway to third. Enrique Cruz walked. Hector Zamora hit into a fielder's choice, Cruz out at second. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 left.
SEVENTH INNING
MAHONING VALLEY 3, STATEN ISLAND 2
Scrappers: Wright pitching. Mulhern lined out to left. Conroy homered to right center. Garko struck out. Noviskey struck out. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left.
richesson@vindy.com